I am a family member of an Oxford House resident. Before beginning her recovery, my mother struggled with severe substance use for more than ten years. Her addiction affected our entire family and contributed to criminal behavior and incarceration. While incarcerated, she made the decision to get sober and rebuild her life.

After her release, my mother moved into an Oxford House in Richmond. At the time, I was finishing my undergraduate degree at VCU, and we slowly began rebuilding our relationship. I remember visiting the house, signing the visitor book, seeing the chore chart, and helping her move from one room to another as residents progressed in their recovery and moved forward with their lives. Those experiences showed me that Oxford House is not simply a place to stay. Its structure, accountability, and community are essential parts of the recovery process.

My mother has continued her sobriety and now lives in an Oxford House in North Chesterfield, which she considers her home. She has found friends who understand what she has experienced. She has learned accountability, how to live with people at different stages of recovery, how to participate in her community, and how to give back to others. Oxford House has given my mother her life back, and it has allowed our family to rebuild a relationship that addiction nearly destroyed.

The self-governing model is a major reason Oxford House works. Residents share responsibility, manage their home together, resolve conflicts, complete chores, hold one another accountable, and support each other without relying on paid staff. This combination of structure, peer support, community, and personal responsibility gives residents the freedom to build stable lives on their own terms.

I support appropriate oversight and strong safety standards for recovery residences. However, regulations designed around commercial, staffed facilities should not prevent democratically self-governing Oxford Houses from continuing to operate. Requiring paid staff would eliminate one of the defining features that makes the Oxford House model successful.

Please revise the proposed regulations so self-governing houses are not required to employ staff, clearly explain whether Oxford House members are considered the “operator,” and do not require unincorporated member associations to obtain business insurance or register with the State Corporation Commission as commercial businesses.

Please protect residents while preserving the Oxford House model that has helped my mother and so many other Virginians reclaim their lives.